Phantom Express
by Is-this-a-good-name
Summary: Danny Fenton has always protected his little sister Jasmine from bullies, loneliness, and their own parents. When a mysterious train pulls up in front of their home, they take the chance to escape their holiday woes for one evening. But there is more to the train than they know. And what will they find once they reach the North Pole?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one _AN EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT_

Christmas Eve – the worst day of the year.

Danny Fenton lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling with his ear buds cranked all the way up.

He was only 8 years old and already he was tired of it all. Tired of the fighting, tired of the accusing, and tired of the endless screaming. All of Danny's life his parents had been fighting over the most meaningless things. Is living food fit to eat? Should the ghost portal be left on all the time? Is _Santa Clause_ real or not? Come on – Santa?!

Who cares? If Santa was real, there was no way he'd ever come to the Fenton house. He'd get creamed by a blaster if he was lucky. If he was unlucky, well, the iron maiden in the basement was large enough for any sized fat man as Jack Fenton could attest.

The clock was ticking towards 11:00 and nobody was getting any closer to sleep. His little sister who was 6 had run from the living room and had hidden herself under her bed. She felt safest there. She had always run to her bed since she was little, clinging to her little Einstein Bear named Bearbert. She was a smart, but weird kid. She was always talking to the open air and claimed she could see ghosts. Danny blamed his parents for this. They were always yelling about ghosts and specters, accusing unsuspecting neighbors of being ghosts, and just being general pests. Any child could develop peculiar traits with all of that.

Danny sighed and scrubbed his fingers across his eyes. He just wanted all the noise to go away. He couldn't care less about the promised presents that Santa was supposed to bring. If he could have one Christmas present, it would be for a little peace for him and his sister.

Danny sat up in bed and pulled out his ear buds. He listened. Nothing. There was no shouting coming from downstairs. Either they had come to an agreement about how to set up a proper Santa trap using ghost hunting gear, or they had passed out from all of their screaming.

Danny cautiously got up and crept to the door. He took a furtive look down the hall then crept to his sister's room. He opened the door as quietly as he could and tiptoed inside. Jazzy he called into the room. He heard a sniffle and made his way to the bed. He crouched down to peak under the pink bed ruffle and looked into the teal eyes of his little sister. They were red rimmed and there were tear tracks down her cheeks.

For a moment a flicker of heat burned in Danny's chest at the look of his innocent little sister. Her Christmas ruined just like all of his had been. He scoffed at the notion of 'the most wonderful time of the year'. But he schooled his face into a calm smile for his sister's sake.

"Hey Jazzy." He said craning his neck with his head parallel to the floor. "It's all quiet now. Why don't you come out?" Jazmine sniffed and shook her head. Danny frowned and sighed. "Tell you what – if you come to my room, I'll sneak downstairs and grab Santa's milk and cookies. Then we'll eat them together and let Mom and Dad figure out how Santa got past their traps without getting caught on tape." He grinned his lop sided grin at her. She seemed to consider this for a moment then slowly smiled herself. "Okay" she whispered.

Jazz slowly crawled out from under her bed clinging to Bearbert. When she was out her brother helped her up and walked with her down the hall to her brother's room, clutching his hand the whole way. When they got back to Danny's room Danny turned on a small nightlight and picked Jaz up placing her on his taller bed. He then sat down next to her and she placed her head on his shoulder allowing her red hair to fall down his back. If anyone had seen them they would have been surprised at the striking effect of her bright red hair next to his midnight black.

Jazmine and Danny were both slender and short for their ages making them prime targets for bullies. Jazmine had developed a shy and timid attitude that was not helped by the bully situation. Danny might have turned out the same way had he not taken the responsibility of protecting his little sister upon himself. He had become quite skilled at cutting words, and sharp wit. And thereby, through necessity, good at quick escapes and defensive skills.

Danny broke the silence. "Guess I should go get those cookies now?" He half joked. Jazz turned her head to look at her brother then shook her head before burying her face into the gap between his shoulder and neck. Danny wrapped his arm around his sister and leaned back against the headboard. It felt to Danny like there were more and more of these nights with the two of them together. He wasn't sure when it had happened, but Jazmine had started looking to her brother as more of a parent than her own mom and dad.

Danny could feel the heaviness of sleep start to drag at him. He looked over to the clock. It was now 11:40. Twenty minutes until Christmas. He shook his little sister a bit and smiled into her eyes when she looked up at him. "Come on Jazzy. I promised you cookies. We can eat them together and make it our first Christmas present." Jazmine looked unsure but Danny wasn't deterred. He slipped out of bed, bare feet cold on the hard floor, and pulled the covers close around her. Be right back he whispered to her and quick stepped silently towards the door and slipped out like a shadow.

Danny had gotten good at sneaking around. He snuck around bullies, around his angry parents, and around teachers who always seemed to be watching him. As though they suspected him of trouble making looking for its opportunity. He tiptoed down the stairs and paused to assess the situation. There was no one in sight and the cookies and milk were laying on the table next to a painfully obvious Santa trap. Danny rolled his eyes at the sight of the cameras and the trigger disguised as a cookie. He typed in a generic code that was used in most of the Fenton Works basic security and deactivated the trap. He picked up the plate minus the false cookie and the glass of milk. Then just to irritate his parents he left the decoy on top of the napkin and drew a heart around the cookie before turning the security system back on.

'I could be batman someday' the thought smugly to himself. He looked at the large grandfather clock with little green ghosts for the hands. They read 11:45 and the clock started to chime the third quarter. Danny heard a grunt from the direction of his parent's room and he quickly made his way up the stairs. He was out of breath when he slipped inside his room and swung the door closed with the heel of his foot.

Jazz looked up at him startled out of the beginnings of her exhausted doze. Her eyes locked with his and for a fraction of a second they shared a moment of tense waiting to see if they had gotten caught. But after half a minute of silence Danny broke into a victorious smirk and Jazz hid her own wide grin under the covers with her eyes peeking out.

Danny carefully placed the glass of milk on the nightstand next to the bed and the plate of three cookies in the center of the comforter. Then he carefully climbed under the covers with his back resting on the headboard. He tried to tug his sister up so she wouldn't spill crumbs in the bed but she refused instead preferring to snag a Christmas cookie and retreat to her safe spot with just the top of her red hair visible. Danny rolled his eyes and sunk his teeth into a ghost shaped cookie with a red and white hat. They enjoyed their cookies sharing the third cookie between them along with the glass of milk.

By the time they had finished their first Christmas gift of the year, wiped their milk mustaches off, and laid down on the pillow the clock read 11:58. Neither Fenton child noticed how it had started snowing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two _THE POLAR EXPRESS_

Danny couldn't have been asleep for more than two minutes before something woke him up. When he glanced at his sister and saw that she hadn't moved from her spot and knew that from her lack of kicking she had barely fallen into the first stages of sleep. Give her another twenty minutes and she would have claimed half the bed or more. Danny listened for a moment before rolling back over. As he did he glanced at the clock. Twelve o'clock exactly. Christmas morning had arrived. He sighed and was about to close his eyes again when he heard the strangest noise he had ever heard excluding those that had not come from his parents' basement. It sounded like a distant call on the wind slowly getting louder. A light came through his window curtains and he started to get up, but was knocked back down when the floor started to rumble.

As he fell he accidentally elbowed his sleeping sister causing her to let out a small yelp. He looked over to his sister to check on her, but before he could say anything the whistle sounded again much louder as though some monstrosity was trying to break into his house. Considering his upbringing this was a distinct possibility. He expected his parents to start shouting at any moment about the ghost holding whatever ridiculously oversized new weapon they had invented. But all he could hear was the unending rumble the horrendous whistle and now the screech of breaks. He finally made it to the window to look out. When he did his jaw dropped. Just outside his room, which looked out onto one of the busiest streets in amity park, was impossibly parked the largest, shiniest, and strangest steam engine locomotive he had ever seen.

In a strange daze he found himself turning towards the door when he felt a tug on the sleeve of his cosmic themed pajamas. Jazmine was holding onto his elbow staring at the train with an expression that must have mirrored his own. It was a look of shock, disbelief, and wonder. Danny pulled her hand and led her to the bed, then made sure to put on his slippers this time.

"Jazz, stay here. I'm going to go take a look. Mom and Dad will be up soon and at this time of night they could shoot at anything that moves. Just stay here and I'll take a quick look." Jazmine could only nod her head in her shock. Danny nodded back at her and slipped down the stairs two at a time while still being as quiet as he could. When he reached the bottom he took a quick scan of the room. Unbelievably his parents were nowhere in sight. Could they have slept through all of this? If his mother was wearing the Fenton earplugs, it was entirely possible. They were calibrated to cancel out the noise of his father's snoring.

Now, without worrying about waking his parents, he outright ran to the front door and opened it. The sight that greeted him was even more astounding than what he had seen from his window upstairs. The cold fresh snow was at least two feet deep. Had it even been snowing before? The world was muffled and chilled and would have been silent if not for the occasional puff from the steam engine. However, the most prominent feature in this new winterscape was the immensity of the locomotive parked in front of his home.

The train was not more than ten cars long engine and caboose included. The paint shone fire engine red accented in grey steel. The puff of smoke wrapped the engine in mystery. And a warm glow shone from every window. It was both an intimidating and captivating sight.

From his place on the front porch Danny saw a door slowly slide open from the middle of the train. Out of the mist stepped a vaguely overlarge shadow. Simultaneously there was a gasp in the general vicinity of Danny's elbow. With a jump of nerves Danny twirled on the spot almost slipping in his house shoes. His little sister stood just behind him with her mouth agape and her breath escaping in little clouds in the frozen air. Before Danny could say a word to Jazmine to return inside he was interrupted by a call from the train.

"ALL ABOARD!" Came the carrying voice from what must have been the shadow. Then a light appeared shining from a lantern and scattered the misty shadows. The figure could be seen more clearly. The two Fenton children could see an overweight man wearing suspenders and a typical blue and white stripped conductor's hat. The very confused kids shared an apprehensive look. Danny tentatively went forwards one halting step at a time. Jazmine found her brother start to slip away from an easy arm's length gave a small squeak then stumbled forward to grab onto the back of his pajama shirt.

All ABOARD! Once more the call came forth a bit quicker, considerably louder, and seemingly more impatient. Danny set his jaw and picked up his pace. When the kids were about fifteen feet from the train they stopped to assess the situation. In front of them stood a man who was every bit as overweight as he had first looked when they saw him from the porch, if not even larger. Now they could see the man had on a red afghan around his neck and his suspenders matched his conductor's hat. His hat covered what might have been an entirely bald head. On his chin was a soul patch a dark color that matched his thick dark eyebrows. He wore a stern expression schooled to careful neutrality as he examined the children right back. They looked at one another for what felt like a full half minute in silence.

Finally, the conductor of the train had had enough. With a harrumph and a small glare, he asked, "Well? You coming?"

Danny rather abruptly lost his timidity and took a more forceful stance. "Coming where?" he shot back. The man quirked his expressive eyebrows, which seemed to primarily express aggravation, and exclaimed, "Why, to the North Pole of course!" Danny felt his jaw drop. His shock couldn't have been any more real than if his goofy parents' hair-brained ideas of ghosts had proved true and said ghosts took up residence in their own basement.

The North Pole," Danny repeated.

"Yes Mr. Fenton. The North Pole. You have been invited to take a one-night trip of your life to see the very place of wonder and mystery children around the globe can only dream about. But, the offer is not indefinite." Danny did nothing more that glare suspiciously at this gruff man. He had heard stories about children being lured away from home before by strangers promising surprises. He had half a mind to turn around and walk back into his house when he heard a small high voice speak up.

"Really, Sir? You mean the real North Pole with Santa and reindeer and and and elves?" Danny turned to his little sister standing in the cold with the snow up past her knees. She was shivering and not nearly protected from the cold in her thin pink night shirt. Unlike Danny she was wearing no shoes and was clinging to Bearbert. Her face was flushed, but her eyes were now glowing as though a star was shining directly into her large teal eyes. Her red hair was like a beacon under the full moon light. To her brother's eyes she looked frail and beautiful. His instinct to protect her kicked in and he turned towards her to pick her up and take her back in. As disagreeable as their parents were better the devil you know than the one you don't.

But the conductor had heard the little girl. His expression softened at the sight of the little girl who hung back behind her older brother. A small smile played on his lips.

"Yes Miss. Fenton. The real North Pole. That's where we are all headed tonight. You and your brother are welcome to come. But, it's your choice. Both of your choices." Here he glanced back at Danny then returned his attention to the little girl. "But time is rolling on and _NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS_ is it ten thirty already? We'll be late! I have never been late or tardy before. So come on both of you if you're coming."

Danny was frozen to the spot. His mind felt like a blank. The only thought that made it through the funk was that no it was already twelve o'clock. So they were probably already late. But his stalled thoughts were abruptly disturbed when he saw his sister take a step towards the train. Danny moved to intercept her. She looked up at her brother with big pleading eyes and Danny hesitated again not wanting to either deny his sister nor to take an unknown risk. The conductor sighed and turned around. "Very well" he spoke the words with what sounded suspiciously like disappointment. He waved his lantern towards the front of the train and a deafening whistle sounded. Then ever so slowly the wheels began to squeak forward on chug at a time.

Danny saw his sister looking up at him with a gleam of unshed tears before she hunched in on herself. She held her little bear to her chest as her shoulders began to shake. "No." Danny thought. Whatever this was he could not do this to his sister. She deserved on truly good Christmas and may the mythical ghost king himself strike him down if he was the one to deny her. Danny picked up Jazmine in his arms and walked toward the train.

The train was moving at a quicker pace and Danny quickened his steps to adjust. He felt his sister wrap her arms around his shoulders as his steps bounced her. He was keeping up with the train but not making any progress. His speed picked up but so did the train's. Step by step he was starting to fall behind. A moment of small panic wracked him as he realized he might not make it. He fell into a full out run and his arm reached out for the hand rail. Jazmine gasped when she felt his arm leave her to grasp the rail. He looked at her then clenched his jaw hard. With a huge effort he shoved his sister onto the step. She gave a quick yelp as she landed then looked out to her brother. He could run easier without her weight but now the train was really moving. He still had his hand on the rail but knew if he lost his grip he would be left behind and Jazz would be alone on this crazy train. With a yell he threw himself at the hand railing and caught it with both hands. One foot at a time he was able to pull himself up onto the platform.

When he was standing Jazmine wrapped him in a huge hug. By now the train was moving at an enormous pace. They were on this trip to the end, where ever it took them. As Jazmine released her brother and took his hand the door opened. There stood the conductor. He had a semi pleased semi irritated expression (quite a combination for anyone, especially this enigma of a character) and held out to them each one golden train ticket. "Well then, Mr. and Miss Fenton. Welcome to the Polar Express."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three _Meeting your neighbors._

The kids looked up at the man who stood in the doorway holding out their tickets. Danny took the both of them and lead his sister inside. They stepped inside onto a deep red plush carpet. The first thing they noticed was the warmth that seeped into their chilled fingers and toes. The sting told them how cold they had gotten without being fully aware of it. Jazmine gave one strong shiver which seemed to flush out the remnant of the cold as she didn't shiver again the rest of the trip. Then as they looked around they took in their surroundings more thoroughly. There were benches all along the car all facing forward except the one in the very front which faced backward and was equipped with some kind of squawk box. There was an assortment of children of all races in various sleeping clothes: some were sitting at the benches and looking out the windows or talking to their neighbors, some were jumping up and down on their seats or running between the isles, and one little girl in bunny pj's with a fluffy tail and blonde hair was doing twirls.

Danny heard the door slide shut behind him. He grabbed Jazz's hand and lead her to the nearest empty bench. He set her down and slid in next to her. The conductor made his way to the front and grabbed the old fashioned microphone and clicked it to life. He then addressed the kids.

"Alright people settle down. We have all of our passengers and are now officially on our way to the North Pole. My name in Mr. Lancer and I will be your conductor this evening. It's about an hour and a half trip and it's my job to see you all safely there, on time, and return each of you to your homes. If everyone stays on their best behavior and no one causes any trouble, this shouldn't be a problem." Here he gave a warning glare and caught every pair of eyes with his own. He continued on.

"Tonight will be a night to remember for each of you. The North Pole is a special place. There is nowhere else like it on Earth. And one of you will receive the first gift of Christmas." His speech was interrupted by a sturdy kid, perhaps a year or so older than Danny, with blond hair and a square jaw. His clothes were a solid blue with a red and white outer coat. He had an 'all-American-football-star' vibe.

"Who gets the first gift of Christmas?' He called out in a self-assured voice. Mr. Lancer instantly planted his eyes on the child and locked his gaze as though searching his soul. The child gave an audible gulp. Without breaking his gaze Lancer answered the now nervous child. "Santa will choose one of you". Finally, he broke his glare and swept his eyes around the room, and Danny wondered if being chosen was a good thing or not judging by the reaction of this conductor.

Then the conductor broke into a smile that reflected genuine content and said, "Now, it's my pleasure to serve you tonight. We'll have snacks in an hour and then to Santa before you know it." With a screech that had all of the kids clutching their ears Lancer clicked off the mike and returned it to it's place on the wall and sat down.

Danny sighed from his seat and settled further into the cushion. He looked at his sister who was looking around the car with shy curiosity. Danny took a moment to look at the other kids himself. He saw a group of kids towards the middle of the car in the same area as the blond kid who spoke up earlier. The kid was talking with the blond girl that was twirling earlier, an Asian kid that was the tallest of the group, and a dark haired beauty. She looked to be Hispanic and her wide dark eyes caught the light in a mesmerizing way. Danny found himself staring. He continued to look until the girl turned around in her seat and her eyes caught his. He quickly looked away feeling his face turning red. He heard laughter coming from that direction and only felt his blush deepen. Jazmine noticed and turned towards him.

"Danny?" she questioned. Before he had the chance to answer his sister he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see who it was. Standing next to him was a dark skinned boy who might have been a bit younger than Danny but older than Jazz. So…seven maybe? His clothing style reflected a different culture than Danny's and he had to wonder if there were kids representing all parts of the world on this train.

"Hello" he said in a rich melodic accent. "May I sit with you?" He seemed very formal in his speech. Danny gave a short nod at the kid and slid over further. Jazmine looked at the kid with an intensity that Danny was afraid would be interpreted as rude. But the new kid didn't seem to take any notice as he pulled out from his clothes a strange hand held device.

"My name is Takondwa. But my English name is Tucker. Or just Tuck. You may call me as you like." His English was proficient, if not to a level of fluency yet. It took some effort, but the kids could understand him well enough. Danny nodded his head and replied.

"Hello Tucker. I'm Danny and this is my little sister Jazmine. Or just Jazz." Takondwa, or Tucker as Danny was already referring to him in his head, smiled at the both of them.

"Hello, then, Danny and Jazz. It is a pleasure to meet you. I cannot wait to get to the Northern Pole. My home country of Malawi rarely sees snow." After making this proclamation he turned to the device he held in his hand and turned it on. Danny and Jazz were both a bit taken aback by this newcomer. His speech was extremely formal, though Danny attributed that to learning English through a classroom environment which rarely focuses on colloquialism or casual vernacular. But he seemed friendly enough.

Jazmine, ever they shy but inquisitive one, had been studying Tucker the entire time and leaned over her brother to speak to the boy. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again, her cheeks tinted red. Danny knew that meant his sister wanted to be friendly but couldn't think of anything to say to break the ice. Danny almost rolled his eyes at this. He was starting to worry that his sister was developing a handicap from her shyness. He took pity on her and asked what he knew she was curious about: the handheld device.

"So Tucker, what is that?" Danny took a concerted effort to limit his use of contractions in his speech to be more easily understood. Tucker looked up at him with a wide smile. "This is called a PDA. I can use it for many things. Right now I am researching this kind of train. It is a very old style. I do not believe they are made anymore."

"Oh." Danny replied. "Any luck?" "Yes. This is a…"

He was interrupted by a commotion coming from the front of the train. Danny craned his neck to see over the seats to see what was happening. From what he could tell one of the kids from before had cornered a heavy set kid with frizzy red hair and his friend.

"What's with those clothes?" Rang the snarky voice, instantly raising Danny's hackles. Many of his own fights had started with similar opening lines. "Did you come from some place that hasn't invented pajamas yet or something?" Danny was not surprised to see that it was the same blond kid from before who had challenged Mr. Lancer. The same Mr. Lancer that was nowhere to be seen. Danny could only guess that after the humiliation he had suffered, the kid needed to reestablish his dominance. In the back of his mind Danny found it strange that the fact that they were on some form of mystical magical train seemed to have made no dent in the usual social priorities of the bully.

A female voice cut into the conversation. Danny saw that the Hispanic beauty had entered the conversation. "Come on Dash. He probably doesn't have any money to buy decent sleep wear." Now she grabbed her nose and added spitefully, "or hot water for a bath. You know, in the last five months or something." The redhead's face began to blush a shade that clashed with his hair.

Tucker made an aggrieved sound from beside Danny. His face was scrunched up and his lips were in a thin line, but he hunkered down lower in his seat, not liking the situation but not seeing it his place to get involved. Danny tried to resolve himself to do the same and looked out the window in an effort to ignore the commotion, but as he looked toward the fogged glass he caught the reflected image of his sister's eyes. She was gazing out into the inky night staring at nothing. And Danny was lost for a moment thinking about all of the times he had tried to save his sister when nobody else would look up to see the torment of a little girl. Especially the freak kid of the Fentons'. The kid who saw _things._ When Danny heard a voice speak up he was broken from his slight trance and his attention was brought back to the front of the train.

"Leave Michael alone." This was said by the slender dark haired companion of the now named Michael. He had what Danny equated with an Irish accent.

" _Leave Michael alone,"_ came the mocking voice of the Asian kid. "Ha! Good one Kwan!" Dash praised. The two shared a high five over the two kids heads that they had squashed between the two. Now the dark haired kid began to flush like Michael but for a whole different reason.

Danny had slid himself out of his seat around Tucker before he even realized he was standing up. He watched the interaction wavering on what he wanted to do.

"Stop it."

" _Stop it."_

"Stop It!"

" _Stop It!"_

"It's fine Nathen. Ignore them." Said Michael. But Nathen continued,

"Just stop it, Please! We aren't doing anything to you. If you don't like the way someone smells sit somewhere else. There's plenty of seats in here".

"Oh, yeah?" Dash had stepped back in to continue his own torment. "It doesn't matter how far away you sit, 'cuz you're stinkin' up the whole trail. Guess you'll just have to sit on the roof."

Danny had crept up to the group and was now nearly at arm's reach without having been seen. Sometimes this creeping ability that he had honed so well made Danny feel like he was nothing more than a shadow that _could_ be seen, but wasn't worth the effort of taking notice. A frustrating ability sometimes, but one that certainly had its advantages.

"I know." Said the bright voice of the beauty queen. "We'll just open the window and stick his head outside." She giggled at her own creative idea.

"Not bad Paulina. That would save us a trip outside. Let's try it."

Dash made a grab for Michael who squeaked like a frightened mouse. Nathen looked to the front of the car where Mr. Lancer had left and continued to be conspicuously absent. Before the bulky arm could land on either boy, another hand intercepted. It was a slender, pale, and lithe hand that had a surprising grip. All eyes fell to the messy haired boy whose hand was locked around the bully's wrist.

"I think," came the quiet calm voice, "that they asked you _nicely_ to leave them alone."

Silence reigned. Then a snort came from Paulina's direction, though Danny wasn't sure of this as he refused to break eye contact with Dash. "So, it's the quiet boy to the rescue, huh? I saw you looking at me. You think I'm pretty don't you?" She threw her hair back in a tease.

Danny only shrugged. "Yeah, I think you're pretty. Too bad you have such an ugly mouth." Again everybody stared at the small figure.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Dash came to the rescue as he wrenched his hand out of the smaller boy's grip.

Danny rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to continue what he knew could only be more physical pain in the making. "A hateful brat who's looks earned her a life without the word 'no' and a bully whose parents never loved him enough to teach him respect to his fellow man"

Silence. Deafening silence.

Paulina looked like she had been hit. The blond girl in the bunny outfit was clutching her hands in front of her mouth with huge bugging eyes. Kwan had an almost amused look, like Danny had done what he had merely for his entertainment. And Dash, well, Dash looked like he was fuming.

Danny saw the hand that he previously had a hold of cock back in the universal tell-tale sign of raging bully, when an entirely new presence made itself known in the form of a boot. A black boot. A black boot that looked especially hard and heavy and made an interesting noise when it was applied in force to the shin of an already overbalanced oaf.

 _Whump!_


End file.
